Ralph Chaplin Remembers
Mother Jones

"She might have been any coal miner's wife ablaze with righteous fury when her brood was in danger. Her voice shrilled as she shook her fist at the coal operators, the mine guards, the union officials, and all others responsible for the situation. She prayed and cursed and pleaded, raising her clenched and trembling hands, asking heaven to bear witness. She wore long, very full skirts and a black shawl, and her tiny bonnet bobbed up and down as she harangued the crowd. The miners loved it and laughed, cheered, hooted, and even cried as she spoke to them."

Wobbly: The Rough-and-Tumble Story of an American Radical, by Ralph Chaplin, 1948

["General" Bradley was loading coal and handling mules in the mines at the time of his death in 1918 of lung disease and alchohol. Miners frequently "passed the hat" on his behalf.]

  

The Illinois Labor History Society
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